Sharapova

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT SHARAPOVA - PAGE 3

Top-seeded Maria Sharapova narrowly avoided a stunning third-set collapse, overcoming the soaring heat and her own mistakes to beat Camille Pin 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 on Tuesday in the first round of the Australian Open. The heat--it was 97 degrees and muggy at midday--forced tournament officials to suspend play on the outside courts. Sharapova, her screeching intensifying as the temperature and the pressure increased, won five straight games to open the third set before her French foe rallied with five in a row--fending off match points in the eighth game--to tie it at 5. Sharapova, after wasting another match point in the 12th game, was broken again and allowed Pin to serve for the match.

Defending champion Maria Sharapova beat Tatiana Golovin 7-5, 6-1 to reach the final of the DFS Classic in Birmingham, England. Sharapova, recovering from a thigh strain and a cold that hampered her in previous rounds, will play Jelena Jankovic of Serbia-Montenegro on Sunday. Jankovic beat Laura Granville of the United States 6-2, 6-2 in the other semifinal. Sharapova, who was broken early on, rallied to lead 5-3 against Golovin but then missed the chance to close out the set. Golovin then double-faulted at 40-30 in the 12th game, giving Sharapova the chance to take the set. - Top-ranked Roger Federer beat Tommy Haas 6-4, 7-6 (9)

Maria Sharapova shut out American Bethanie Mattek 6-0, 6-0 in less than an hour Wednesday to advance to the third round of the Family Circle Cup. The second-seeded Russian star, coming off her first clay-court title last week at Amelie Island, is looking for her fourth tournament victory of the year. Earlier, defending champion Jelena Jankovic overcame a slow start to beat American Alexandra Stevenson 7-5, 6-0. Top-seeded James Blake beat Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the second round in the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship, avenging a three-set loss to Nishikori in the final of a hard-court tournament in Florida.

Serena Williams moved a step closer to salvaging her season with a 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 semifinal victory over Amelie Mauresmo on Sunday in the WTA Championships in Los Angeles. "She just went for it," Mauresmo said of Williams, who alternately blasted powerful groundstrokes, served in the 120 m.p.h. range and rushed the net, where she won 38 of 54 points. Williams, ranked eighth and without a Grand Slam title this year for the first time since 2001, faces Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova in Monday night's final.

Maria Sharapova saved two match points Sunday and advanced to the quarterfinals at the French Open by beating Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 3-6, 6-4, 9-7. Schnyder served for the match three times, at 5-4, 6-5 and 7-6 in the third set. She was one point away from ending the match in the 10th game and again in the 14th -- and she also was two points away from victory on 11 occasions. When Sharapova pulled it out on her first match point, as the 14th-seeded Schnyder sailed a forehand wide, the Russian covered her face with both hands and looked on the verge of tears.

Maria Sharapova struggled to defeat Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 Sunday to capture the DFS Classic in Birmingham, England, and win this Wimbledon warmup for the second straight year. Sharapova, preparing for her Wimbledon title defense, didn't serve especially well and struggled to finish points as she contended with a lingering thigh strain. "I will still go to Wimbledon thinking I have played well," the top-seeded Russian said. "I wasn't playing my best tennis, but I managed to get through and felt really comfortable as the matches went on."

Maria Sharapova's aching right shoulder might have been to blame for a few shaky moments Wednesday at the French Open. But her confidence is perfectly intact. After taking time off and getting a cortisone shot for what she called the worst injury of her career, Sharapova got through her first test at Roland Garros, playing through a Paris drizzle to beat Emilie Loit of France 6-3, 7-6 (4). "Even without a serve," the two-time Grand Slam champion said, "I'm good enough to win many matches."

Andy Roddick wasn't about to let John Isner have another chance at a third-set tiebreaker, much less let the unseeded American win the first title of his career. Instead, Roddick ended Isner's dream week, beating him 6-4, 7-6 (4) to win his third Legg Mason Classic title. Roddick, who also won in Washington, D.C., in 2001 and 2005, earned his 23rd ATP title by solving Isner's serve, which had carried him to five straight wins in third-set tiebreakers. "I knew I had to win the second-set tiebreaker because I thought I had no chance in the third-set tiebreaker against him," Roddick joked.